Craig's Current - April 2026 (1)

Author

Craig Cassar
April 30, 2026

Date correction!

Welcome to the April edition of Craig’s Current. Although we are more than a week into spring, the more pleasant weather has still mostly eluded us. Let’s hope that changes soon! But in anticipation of that warmer weather, I’ll be visiting parks and other places around the Ward for ‘Cassar Where You Are’ pop-ups to connect with constituents and answer your questions. My first pop-up will be on Friday, May 8th, from 3:30 to 4:30 pm in Meadowlands Park. Watch my social media channels for many more dates to come.

Moving on to the news, the number of items this month has made for a robust newsletter. Not every topic will be of interest to all, but I always want to make sure we provide something for everyone! Here’s a sample of what you’ll find below. The Council News section includes updates on Parking Enforcement and Fines and our new Downtown Revitalization Strategy. Among many other topics, Ward 12 News includes an exciting update about the work of the Daily School Route in Ward 12 schools, a decision on the development proposal for 392-412 Wilson St, and an article on road conditions. The Community Safety section includes two related articles: the Annual Collision Report and an important step forward for our Rural Road Safety Toolbox. Plus, there are several Other News items, a list of What’s Happening Around Town (including Doors Open Hamilton and Jane’s Walk this weekend!) and two articles in The Climate Corner. Enjoy!

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CLIMATE CORNER

Calling all youth aged 14 - 29! Join me and several of my Council colleagues at City Hall on Saturday, May 9, for Hamilton’s Youth Town Hall: A One-Day, Youth-Only Access Pass to City Hall! 

This event is an annual, full-day civic engagement designed to bring together youth from all City wards to participate in structured dialogue, learning, and engagement related to municipal governance and City priorities. Youth can choose one of three workshops to engage in civic learning activities, hear from City leadership, participate in structured interactions with Members of Council, contribute input into ongoing City initiatives where youth perspectives are being sought, and build civic awareness and readiness ahead of the 2026 municipal election.  

Registration is required. More info here. 

Parking Enforcement and Fines Update 

SUNDAY PARKING ENFORCEMENT 
While street parking on Sundays is still free, the City is cracking down on illegal Sunday parking. Previously, illegal parking was not enforced on Sundays, meaning obstructed sidewalks, driveways, fire routes and fire hydrants, among other infractions, were not ticketed.  The Sunday Parking Enforcement pilot is now in effect.  

PARKING FINES INCREASE 
The 2026 Budget identified an increase in certain parking penalty fees as one way to help reduce the impacts on property taxpayers and to move these fees closer to municipal comparators. Hamilton’s parking penalty fees are lower than comparable municipalities, and a modest increase to keep pace would provide approximately $734,000 in new revenue generation to the City. I, along with most of my colleagues, supported this increase as every dollar the City brings in as a user fee payable by those who park illegally is a reduction on the tax impact for the rest of us. Additionally, increased fines act as a deterrent for those who park illegally, sometimes in ways that endanger others.  

A jurisdictional review revealed that Hamilton’s parking fines were below municipal comparators

  • The staff report is at item 9.3 here 

  • The video of the Staff/Council discussion is here 

TOYS FOR TICKETS 

The 2025 results for the City of Hamilton’s Toys for Tickets Program (which runs over the Christmas season) are in. Participants contributed toys with a total estimated value of $6,156.77 to benefit United Way Halton & Hamilton. Read more here. 

Downtown Revitalization Strategy 

Image credit: Hamilton City Magazine

In April, Council approved a 10-year Downtown Revitalization Strategy. Our city, of course, has several historic downtown areas that are important to Hamilton’s identity and contribute to the quality of life in myriad ways. In 2022, the opening of the Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre was the culmination of a major investment in Ancaster’s downtown that has been a huge boost to our local community.  

It is, however, the Hamilton downtown that plays a foundational role for the entire city. If it succeeds, the rest of the City is set up for success. If it fails, those failures reverberate across all of its communities.  In 2026, there are many factors creating challenges in our downtown core, not least of which are lasting social and economic impacts from the pandemic. We will not be successful at restoring and reenergizing Hamilton’s downtown without a clear strategy and coordinated efforts from Council, Staff, businesses, non-profits and the upper levels of government.  

Our new strategy is encapsulated very well by the mission statement:  

MISSION: “Reignite Downtown’s potential by addressing its decline and transforming it into the authentic, renewed heart of the city.” 

This long-term plan, which is broken down into short, medium and long-term actions, starts right away and focuses on a diverse range of levers. An excerpt from the report: Levers are the key sectors, systems, and assets through which the City and its partners can influence the course of Downtown Hamilton’s revitalization. They represent the domains of action where focused investment and coordination can produce a lift effect to improve how Downtown looks, feels, and functions. Each lever reflects an essential part of the Downtown ecosystem:  

  • Aesthetics and Beautification 

  • Connectivity and Transportation 

  • Cultural Assets, Activities, and Entertainment 

  • Development Environment 

  • Economic Opportunities 

  • Main Streets 

  • Public and Green Spaces and Assets 

  • Public Safety 

  • Residents, Visitors, and Workers 

Together, these areas define the physical, social, and economic foundations of a thriving Downtown and serve as the mechanisms through which meaningful change can occur.  

The strategy document and all the work it will instigate will guide us toward the vision outlined below.

You can read the strategy document here. 
Read Hamilton City Magazine’s article on the Downtown Revitalization Strategy here.

The vision Council has adopted for the new Downtown Revitalization Strategy

Municipal Price Index 

Most readers will be familiar with the consumer price index (CPI), which is often used as a synonym for inflation. The CPI tracks the costs of a basket of consumer goods over time to understand how prices change. These costs (clothing, fuel, food, etc.) are different from the costs that municipalities are responsible for, such as labour, chlorine, concrete, asphalt, etc. This means municipalities can experience a substantially different level of inflation than consumers. Historically, municipalities have not had an index similar to CPI to track the inflation levels they experience. Other municipalities in Ontario (e.g. Ottawa and Milton) have developed a municipal index. In April, I seconded a motion to direct Staff to investigate establishing a municipal price index (MPI) for Hamilton. The report is due back later this year. Just as CPI is used for understanding rising prices for consumers, I believe it is good governance for City Council to have an MPI to fully understand the financial pressures impacting the decisions we make for our City. 

  • Read the motion here 

  • Watch the Staff/Council discussion here 

Vacant Unit Tax Deadline Extended 

All residential property owners were required to submit a mandatory occupancy declaration for the 2025 tax year, including your principal residence, by April 15, 2026. By that date, about 92% of property owners had submitted their required declarations. To ensure everyone has time to submit for the 2025 Vacant Unit Tax declaration year without being subject to a $250 late fee, the mandatory declaration deadline has been extended to May 15, 2026. Submit your declaration here. It only takes a few minutes. 

Recycling Changes for Businesses & Other Non-Residential Properties

The Ontario government has changed recycling collection in the province. Beginning January 1, 2026, as a result of the new provincial Blue Box Regulation (O.Reg 391/21), Hamilton’s residential Blue Box recycling program is now fully managed by Circular Materials (not by the City of Hamilton) and contracted to GFL Environmental Inc.  

Non-eligible properties will have received the first of three notices from the City to be issued in 2026. 

As a result of the new Provincial legislation, businesses and other non-residential properties were deemed non-eligible for the new Blue Box Regulations and their recycling collection was to stop at the end of 2025. This is a significant and potentially expensive change for many small businesses, faith organizations, etc., and not a burden they should have to deal with at any time, let alone during our current economic challenges. 

Recognizing that this new legislation is a direct download of costs to our community, City Council voted during the 2026 Budget to invest in an extension of recycling services for these non-eligible establishments throughout 2026. This decision helps to ease the transition and provide time for affected establishments to make other arrangements for their recycling. It also enables municipalities, businesses and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) to advocate to the Province to amend their exclusion policy. 

A common question is “Why doesn’t the City just continue recycling collection indefinitely?” Through this new regulation, the Province has made it six times more expensive for the City to continue recycling collection for non-eligible businesses because Circular Materials does not permit residential recycling and commercial recycling to be mixed in the same collection vehicle. That makes the collection far more complicated and would be an unjustifiable direct cost to the taxpayer, as highlighted from the motion I supported:  

Although such increased costs are not sustainable over the long term, Council did agree to cover the cost for one year. 

More information will be shared to help affected properties prepare, including information on private recycling service providers. Updates will be sent by mail, shared on social media, and posted on the City’s business waste webpage: hamilton.ca/businesswaste 

Questions? Contact the city at: 905-546-CITY (2489) or by email:  [email protected] 

Development Application: 392-412 Wilson St E & 15 Lorne Ave 

The updated massing of the proposal as presented at the April 14, 2026, Planning Committee meeting

As I outlined in my April 10 public statement on my website, Council's ability to decide the path forward on this file has essentially been removed. Based on past Provincial and Ontario Land Tribunal decisions, zoning permitting this proposal is already in place. For those reasons, on April 14, Planning Committee unanimously supported the application at 392-412 Wilson Street East &15 Lorne Avenue with full understanding that if this application was denied by Committee, the proponent could appeal to the OLT and further changes could be made without input from the City.  

Thank you very much to the community members who made the effort to come to City Hall to delegate to Planning Committee. Your comments, concerns, and passion for the Village Core and Ancaster as a whole were heard and greatly appreciated. Based on the meetings with community members I had before April 14 - many of whom are highly engaged in Ancaster's history and heritage - there was alignment to focus our efforts on calls to action where we can have influence. I addressed items #1 to #4 in the April 14th meeting and received positive responses from both City Staff and the Developer’s agent. 

#1 – Ensure a holding provision for adequate water supply and sewer infrastructure is in place before development can happen. This is a condition of development and will be funded by the Developer. 

#2 - The Developer agreed to accept input from the community and City Staff during the Site Plan process regarding the final aesthetic and heritage design of the building. 

#3 - There is a commitment and process underway to keep the Marr-Phillipo house on the streetscape in the Village Core. In addition, holding provisions are in place to ensure that the building can safely be relocated. 

#4 - The Developer has agreed to provide timely and transparent communication throughout the remainder of the planning and construction process. 

You can watch the meeting and see the detailed answers that Committee members received from the City Staff and the Developer's agent here. 

Garner Road Update 

I do not have good news about the final section of work on the Garner Rd sanitary sewer project near Springbrook Dr. The contractor’s goal to have everything complete and the road restored by the end of April, has not been achieved. Wet weather continues to cause unstable soil preventing completion of the underground work. They’ve also had technical challenges making the necessary pipe connections, which is the final critical underground element of the project. The contractor is reviewing the best and fastest options to complete this final step and has arranged for their paving contractor to begin road resurfacing immediately after the underground work is done. They will have crews working 12-hour shifts Monday to Friday and 10-hour shifts on Saturday until the work is done, but they are not able to confidently predict a completion date. Finally, I can confirm that the City is not incurring additional costs due to the ongoing work. 

Daily School Route: Working With Ward 12 Schools

In 2026, The Daily School Route (DSR) is working in Ward 12 schools to engage students, teachers, and families in a ward-wide review of how kids use their neighbourhoods, and what’s required to make them safer for children (and by extension, everyone). The DSR is engaging with grade 5 classes about the ways kids get to school, where they travel in the community, how they use their neighbourhood parks, where they meet their friends, and places that their families enjoy. The aim is to assess and co-design safe routes that students can use independently to get to and from school using active transportation (walk, bike, wheelchair, etc.).  

My team and I have been fortunate enough to visit several schools to watch the process unfold; the visions and dreams students share for their neighbourhoods are inspiring! Slower traffic, safe and separated cycle paths, more water fountains, sidewalks, smoother roads to bike and scoot on, accessible playgrounds, more benches, and more trees were themes that came up over and over. I’ve been very impressed with the level of engagement and great ideas shared by each of the classes I’ve visited! 

The DSR will produce a report that will identify ‘student routes’ and recommended safety improvements that will inform future work by the City.

Craig and Dan Chong from the Daily School Route visit a Grade 5 Class at St. Ann’s Catholic Elementary School. Students presented dioramas of their neighbourhood, shared where they travel and offered their suggestions for improvements.

Just a few of the excellent neighbourhood dioramas made by Grade 5s at St. Ann’s

Just a few of the “My Journey” presentations by Mrs. Jack’s Grade 5 class at Frank Panabaker School

Beautification of Downtown Ancaster  

As part of the 2026 budget, funding for hanging flower baskets and planters in Hamilton’s Business Improvement Areas (BIA) was standardized to a cost-recovery model across the City. That left a funding gap for the Ancaster BIA, so I’ve committed funds from the Ward 12 Minor Maintenance Fund to close the gap and supplement the BIA’s budget. My motion will ensure that the installation, maintenance, watering and removal of the baskets and planters is fully funded. As the weather warms, you can expect to see the return of flowers on Wilson St for the 2026 season, consisting of 42 hanging baskets and 42 planters.  

Portable Toilets Coming to Ward 12 Community Parks 

For those enjoying parks in Ward 12 this summer, I have good news! Temporary portable toilets will once again be installed.  In 2026, this service is expanding to four Ward 12 parks from approximately May to October. You’ll find them at Meadowlands Community Park (160 Meadowlands Boulevard), Amberly Park (284 Nakoma Road), James Smith Park (50 Braithwaite Avenue), and Lynden Legion Park (206 Lynden Road). The portables will be funded from the Ward 12 Non-Property Tax Revenue (cell tower fund).  

Another Community-led Clean Up on Wilson St 

A large group of community members joined Doug Kloet at Glendale Motors on April 18, 2026, to clean up Wilson St

Thanks to Doug Kloet from Glendale Motors, who organized a second annual community clean-up on Wilson Street from his shop all the way down to the bottom of the Wilson Street hill. Dozens of bags of garbage and recycling were collected along with a concerning amount of beer cans and even a deer skull (which was left in nature where it was found)! 

Ancaster Stream Restoration Project 

Help the Hamilton Naturalists' Club revive an Ancaster floodplain and renew an ecosystem!  The 16-hectare Amaolo Nature Sanctuary in west Ancaster, generously donated by the late George Amaolo, has been a focus of the HNC’s restoration and rewilding efforts since 2010, and they are now ready to take the next major step: restoring the sanctuary’s stream, which was 'channelized' (straightened) in the 1940s to improve drainage in the surrounding fields. 

In healthy environments, streams naturally meander across the landscape, forming a dynamic pattern of riffles and pools – shallow, fast-flowing areas alternating with deeper, slow-moving sections. Native vegetation along the streambanks regulates water temperature, stabilizes soils, and creates diverse habitat for fish, wildlife, and aquatic species. During heavy rains and snow melts, water spills into adjacent natural areas known as floodplains, reducing erosion and helping mitigate flooding. 

Learn more about this exciting legacy project here. Donate here.

Heritage Volunteers Recognized 

Rev. Robert Brownlee and Emmanuel França recognized for their volunteer work

Congratulations to Rev. Robert Brownlie and Emmanuel França for their outstanding Volunteer Work on the Archives of the Ancaster Township Historical Society! This year, the Ancaster Township Historical Society celebrates 75 years in Ancaster. The Society meets from October to April on the last Friday of each month at 7:30 pm in the Old Town Hall at 310 Wilson Street East. Join them for a program of talks focusing on the history of Ancaster, Hamilton and the surrounding area. Visitors are always welcome! ATHS volunteers are also involved in supporting and assisting Fieldcote Memorial Park and Museum. 

Learn more and get involved here.  

AEGD Roadway Consultations 

The City of Hamilton is conducting an Environmental Assessment study to plan key road improvements in the Airport Employment Growth District (AEGD). The study will look at widening Book Road East, extending Dickenson Road West, and creating a new east-west arterial road between Southcote Road and Glancaster Road. The City wants your help identifying locations within the study area that you feel cause concern or need improvement. See Engage Hamilton > AEGDancaster for details. An in-person Public Information Meeting will be held in May. Please write to the Project Manager at the link above to be added to the notification list if you would like to attend. My office will share the event details on social media. 

Ward 12 Road Conditions 

Hamilton’s Open Maps provide insight into how the City monitors and evaluates road conditions. Users can see the average ‘Overall Condition Index’ for each of Hamilton’s 6,500km+of roads

Road maintenance is a topic on the minds of many, especially during these early spring months when the freeze and thaw conditions create potholes. Funding the maintenance of our transportation network (roads, bridges, sidewalks, etc.) has been an area of focus for this term of Council and, along with other areas like housing and homelessness, has seen significant financial investment. Even though Hamilton is investing $106M in road maintenance in 2026, unfortunately, inadequate funding for too long has left our roads short roughly $100M of funding annually (Proposed Level of Service June 2025, report pg 61). The result is that roads have not been maintained when they should have, so they deteriorate and create unsafe and unpleasant travel, whether you’re in a car, on foot, or on a bike or mobility device. 

Staff are currently working on a 2-year road maintenance outlook for Ward 12, and once that work is completed, I will share it in Craig’s Current. 

In the meantime, you can learn more about the condition of the City’s roads at open.hamilton.ca under “parking and transportation” at this link. Here you will find the Overall Condition Index (OCI) for all Wards across the city, ranging from Very Poor to Very Good.  

Please continue to report potholes to the City for repair by emailing the nearest address to [email protected] or by calling the City at 311.  

The average OCI (road condition) of roads in each Ward in the City of Hamilton.

  • The top 3 wards for average road conditions are: Ward 11, Ward 12, Ward 15 

  • The bottom three wards are: Ward 3, Ward 2, Ward 1 

Youth and adult registration for the 2026 Ancaster Heritage Days Soapbox Derby are now open! Race for the cup in your soapbox creation on Sulphur Springs Road and Wilson Street during the event. Register here. 

Maintenance and Upgrades Around Town 

Examples (large and small) of maintenance and upgrades around Ward 12

You may have noticed some upgrades undertaken around Ward 12 in the last few months. Our thanks go out to Hamilton Parks, who have been working hard to repair, restore, and replace some of our community assets. 

  • Installation of an asphalt pathway behind Village Green Park, including the addition of an armour stone retaining wall

  • Repair of the steps leading to the Municipal Centre parking lot from the park 

  • Full overhaul and repair of the clock tower at Peace Park, visible from the Wilson Street hill 

  • Widened the walkways at Fieldcote Memorial Park & Museum by cutting back brush along the pathways for increased accessibility and comfort.  

  • Upgraded park signs that include addresses for the parks. 

  • Forestry has added trees on the hillside to the soccer fields next to Costco 

  • Replacement of the arbour at Perth Park  

  • Completed in-house refurbishment and repainting (in Ancaster colours) of four out of eight benches along Wilson Street. Restoring the benches to good condition instead of purchasing new benches saved the City about $8,000.  

And of course, many thanks to Heritage Mill from Dundas for the spectacular refurbishment of the exterior of Ancaster Old Town Hall 

The most recent episodes of Craig’s List - Support Local

I hope you are enjoying my video series, Craig’s List – Support Local. Supporting local businesses is always important, but it’s absolutely critical in the current context of tariffs, threats to Canadian sovereignty, and general economic uncertainty. In this series, I profile local businesses on my list so that you can add them to yours. Click the link below to watch the most recent Craig’s List - Support Local video: 

Note – If you know someone in Ward 12 who might be struggling and could use an extra hand in the garden this spring, Devin from Green Light Garden has offered to give a few hours of his time free of charge to help out! Contact him through the website: greenlightgarden.ca 

Annual Collision Report 

At the April 13 Public Works Meeting, Staff presented the 2023/2024 Annual Collision Report. (Note: The delay in this data from previous years is due to the process changes that now require the City to obtain all collision data from Hamilton Police Services.)  My office receives regular feedback about dangerous driving on our streets, and it is something that I personally witness on a regular basis. Although many of those instances don’t lead to a collision, there are still many collisions happening. 

A table showing City of Hamilton collision data from 2019 to 2024

The positive news is that injury and fatal collisions decreased by 34 percent, from 1,483 in 2019 to 978 in 2024, when injury and fatal collisions fell below 1,000 for the first time in recent years. 

To provide context on the scale of collisions occurring across the transportation network: 

  • One collision occurs approximately every 54 minutes. 

  • One injury collision occurs approximately every nine hours. 

  • One pedestrian collision occurs approximately every 1.9 days. 

  • One cyclist collision occurs approximately every 2.4 days. 

We have a great deal of work to do to retrofit our transportation network and make it safer. During the meeting, I commented that, similar to our asset management deficit of $5.2B, we have an as-of-yet unquantified safety deficit of the work that needs to be done to make our roads safe and comfortable to use, which includes the Vision Zero goal of ‘no serious injuries or fatalities on our roads’. With an average of 14 fatalities per year and 4 lives lost just in the last couple of weeks, our safety deficit is overwhelming. I will continue to be a vocal advocate for prioritizing safety improvements and ensuring our budgets have the same priority, because if it’s not a priority in the budget, then it’s not really a priority.   

You can read the 2023/2024 Annual Collision Report in the three attachments here. 

Rural Road Safety Toolbox

In December 2024, Council supported my motion to formally assess rural road safety via a jurisdictional scan and consulting assignment to review best practices and other available tools that could be effective in enhancing road safety for all road users on Hamilton’s rural roads. Staff returned with a ‘Rural Road Safety’ report on April 13 at the Public Works meeting. The following are highlights of the report: 

In Hamilton’s rural environment, the absence of sidewalks, limited shoulder width, constrained sightlines at unsignalized intersections, roadside hazards, and speed differentials between slow-moving vehicles and general traffic can all contribute to increased safety risk. Ongoing industrial and employment-related development adjacent to rural communities is also expected to continue increasing traffic volumes on parts of the rural road network. 

As traditional urban traffic calming measures are often not directly transferable to rural settings, the Transportation Division retained CIMA+ to undertake a jurisdictional scan, literature review, and technical assessment to identify best practices and develop a Rural Road Safety Toolbox tailored to Hamilton’s rural road network. 

The assignment included: 

  • Jurisdictional scan and literature review of rural road safety practices and countermeasures; 

  • Development of a Rural Road Safety Toolbox for use by the Transportation Division; 

  • A systemic safety review of Hamilton’s rural road network; and 

  • Field investigations and pilot case studies at ten selected rural locations to demonstrate application of the toolbox. 

The primary outcome of this assignment is the development of a Rural Road Safety Toolbox for use by the Transportation Division. The toolbox is a progressive approach that positions Hamilton as a Municipal leader in this area. It will support the review of rural road safety service requests, initial screening of identified issues, in-service road safety reviews, and site-specific investigations by providing a structured, evidence-based framework to identify potential safety issues and match them with context-appropriate countermeasures. 

A systemic safety review of Hamilton’s rural road network was also completed. Unlike traditional hotspot analysis, this approach focuses on identifying locations that exhibit common risk factors associated with severe collisions, rather than relying solely on historical collision frequency at a single site. This methodology is particularly valuable on rural road networks, where collision frequency may be low, but the severity potential can be high. 

For next steps, Staff will begin using this toolbox to evaluate rural safety concerns, and I will continue to pass on concerns my office receives. They will then work to prioritize and determine funding sources, such as possible new provincial funding. 

You can read the 10-page Staff report here. 

The appendix with the full analysis and toolbox (423 pages) is here. It contains the results of 10 pilot studies (evaluation but no implementation), including two Ward 12 locations starting on page 353. 

It's a municipal election year! Hamiltonians will head to the polls throughout the month of October. Are you on the voters’ list? This year will be the first time the Province is managing the voters’ list, so it’s important to check that you’re on it. Luckily, if you’ve registered provincially in the past, you should be there. Being on the voters’ list is helpful, but not mandatory. Everyone in Hamilton will get a household voting card this year (not individual cards) – a change from previous years. This process ensures even those not on the list are given voting information - it’s a big improvement, as not all eligible voters register. Check, update, add, or remove your personal information from the voters’ list here. 

Learn about all the ways the City is prioritizing convenience and accessibility with more polling stations and more ways to vote here. 

Advertising with Lawn Signs 

A reminder that lawn signs advertising businesses can only be placed on private property with permission from the property owner. Such signs are not permitted on city property, including in roundabouts, grass verges, planting strips and medians or zip-tied to traffic lights, telephone poles, etc. Illegally placed signs can be reported by dialling 311 or online here. Note: Charity event signs will not be removed unless they present a sightline obstruction. 

Great Parks Make Great Neighbourhoods 

The Adopt-a-Park Program enables volunteers to help maintain and care for trees, flowers and shrubs in their local parks and dog parks, green spaces, woodlots and trails. The goal of the Adopt-a-Park program engages volunteers and community groups to create and preserve green spaces and safe parks for everyone. Volunteer cleanup efforts create great parks, and great parks make great neighbourhoods!  

Currently, there are three adopted parks in Ward 12: Brockhouse Park, Corporal Nathan Cirillo Dog Park, and Golf Links Park 1.  

If you or your friends, neighbours or service group would like to adopt a local park, find out more here. 

Community Clean-ups – Do you see an area that could use some TLC in your neighbourhood? Last year, Ward 12 saw: 

  • 17 community clean-ups, including three schools: Spring Valley, Frank Panabaker, Tiffany Hills 

  • 1870 participants 

  • 1306 bags of garbage and litter collected  

Organize a clean-up in your community and receive help, supplies and bag pick up from the city at City of Hamilton I Team up to Clean Up 

Pollinator Gardens - Community groups and organizations can apply to plant pollinator gardens on city property at the City of Hamilton Pollinators. Applications are reviewed, proposed sites are investigated and approved by Hamilton Parks. 

Active Seniors 

Enjoy Seniors Centre Without Walls (SCWW) programs, for older adults 55+, from home. Participate in a variety of FREE interactive telephone-based programs. To learn more and review program schedules, visit www.hamilton.ca/scww 

The annual City of Hamilton free compost giveaway runs till May 12. Bring your own shovel and containers. Compost is for residents only, not available for commercial use. More info here. 

Rethinking Chedoke Creek Community Design Lab 

Click image to read the article

The Bay Area Restoration Council (BARC) is seeking insight from community members across the watershed of Hamilton Harbour to better understand and repair our relationship with water. The Rethinking Chedoke Creek Community Design Lab is intended to engage and encourage people to reimagine the role of public land and public space in that relationship. BARC and their partners have reimagined three public spaces along the route of Chedoke Creek to illustrate how our community could interpret and expose the flow of water and even re-engage with water directly. BARC is seeking public comments on the various concepts being considered for Chedoke Creek.  

This video explains what happened in 2018 when the Chedoke Creek spill occurred.  

Swimming Pool Drainage 

Did you know that draining your pool into the gutter is against the City bylaws?  Under Section 4 of By-law No. 14-090, it is prohibited to discharge any matter containing harmful substances, including chemicals like chlorine, salt, or other pool and hot tub additives, into the sanitary, combined, or storm sewer systems.   Storm sewers discharge into Hamilton creeks, and the water from pools is filled with chemicals such as Chlorine, Bromine, Salt, Copper-based algaecides, Nonylphenols, and Nonylphenol ethoxylates, all of which are harmful to the fish and organisms that live in the creeks and rivers across Hamilton and Lake Ontario. Emptying thousands of residential pools into storm sewers has a significant negative impact on the environment. Here's how to empty your pool:  

  • Dechlorinate first, or do not add chemicals to your pool, hot tub or spa for two weeks before emptying it.  

  • Both chlorine and saltwater pools can be emptied onto your property, but the water must absorb into the ground on your own property or be discharged into a laundry tub, sink, or bathtub. 

Learn more at the City’s pool and hot tub webpage. 

Join EcoLocke on Saturday, May 2, from 10am-noon for the Water is Life, not a Commodity event at the First Unitarian Church at 170 Dundurn Street South.  

The event will open with a water song by the Mohawk mother-daughter team of Marie and Elaina Jones. Then, there will be a variety of speakers, including the Water Watchers, City of Hamilton's Watershed Management group, Bay Area Restoration Council, Hamilton Conservation Authority, Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan, Hamilton 350, Save our Streams, Green Venture, and my short documentary, Follow the Flow of Ancaster Creek, will be screened. There will be activities for children. This is a free event, and everyone is welcome. Come and learn more about our local water and ecosystem! 

More information here 

Jane’s Walks are FREE events in and about our community, led by local people who are passionate and knowledgeable about our City and its history. Inspired by the legendary Jane Jacobs, whose leadership was essential in organizing grassroots efforts to protect neighbourhoods from urban renewal and slum clearance, in particular, the plans by Robert Moses to overhaul her own Greenwich Village neighbourhood.

This Saturday & Sunday, May 2 & 3 (10 am to 4 pm), Fieldcote Memorial Park & Museum is part of Doors Open Hamilton. Come visit this gem right in the heart of Ancaster! On Saturday from noon to 4 pm, you can also enjoy an all-ages afternoon showcase of live music at the Bandshell featuring some of Hamilton’s most exciting emerging singer-songwriters — stripped-back sets, original music, and a laid-back daytime atmosphere. You can access the full Doors Open Hamilton listings here

Join me on June 7th at the 16th Annual Mike Ride, a fundraiser for the Daily School Route. Register at the link below. The DSR is a local non-profit organization with a vision of 100% of students who live close enough to school using active transportation (walking, biking, wheelchair, etc.) to get to and from school daily. I'm thrilled to share that this year, DSR is working with many elementary schools in Ward 12. Neighbourhoods shape childhood every day, so when kids can play outside, connect with nature, and travel comfortably to their daily destinations, they are better positioned to thrive. 

If you can’t join me, I’d love it if you could help me reach my fundraising goal of $1,000! Please consider donating and helping make our neighbourhoods safer for our kids. You can donate - or REGISTER! - here 

Want practical strategies for stress management and self-worth? Flamborough Connects is very excited to be partnering with the Flamborough Women’s Resource Centre to bring this online workshop series to the community. Join this free 2-part online workshop for women of all ages and learn simple, effective tools to support self-care, manage stress, and build confidence—all from the comfort of your home. 

  • Thursday, May 7 & Thursday, May 14 

  • 5:30 PM on Zoom 

  • Register at 905-689-7880 or [email protected] (Register to receive your Zoom link) 

More info here 

Enjoy fresh air and explore nature as more than 60,000 spring blooms transform Gage Park during Spring in the Park, running from April 27 to May 18, 2026. The event transforms the park pathways into a self-guided floral walking experience, with vibrant displays of tulips, daffodils and a variety of spring favourites. Visitors are encouraged to start at the Tropical Greenhouse, where you can pick up a scavenger hunt for either the greenhouse or the park. Located at 1000 Main Street E, this is a free event. Info here.  

Join local volunteers for a Garbage and Invasive Plant clean-up of the Ancaster Radial Trail and Golf Links Park on Saturday, May 23, from 9 am – 12 noon. Meet at the picnic tables in Golf Links Park off Seymour Drive near Alterra Blvd.  

MAY 8 & 9  Trash and Treasures /Book sale, St. John’s Church, 37 Halson St 

MAY 9 National Puddle Day – Glanford Curling Club - 11 am to 1:30 pm, 

MAY 9  Clothing and Textile Donation event – Dundas Community Recycling Centre, 27 Olympic Drive, Dundas - 8 am to 1 pm 

MAY 9  Bruce Trail Talks – Session 1: Indigenous Trails: Forerunners of Today -  Westdale Theatre - 1 pm  

MAY 11  Hamilton Naturalists’ Club monthly meeting, 170 Dundurn St. S  - 7:30 pm to 9 pm 

MAY 23 Touch-A-Truck Pier 8, 9 am to 1 pm 

MAY 29  Hamilton Newcomer Day  City Hall 71 Main Street West, 12 to 6 pm 

MAY 30  Summer Dreamin’ , Collage workshop with Stylo Starr, Fieldcote Museum 

JUNE 13 Save the Date for Ancaster Heritage Days  Parade starts at 10 am, Kidsworld, Teen Scene, food trucks and marketplace vendors. Don’t forget to register for the soapbox derby. 

Ancaster Film Festival, art house films every month at the AMAC  

Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre (AMAC): Theatre,  Concerts, Film, and Classes  

Various events at Hamilton Civic Museums 

Various events at the Hamilton Public Library – Ancaster Branch, and Lynden Branch  

Various events at the Ancaster Seniors Achievement Centre  

Solar Installation Support 

Thinking about solar for your rooftop?  Hamilton residents now have access to free, personalized support to install home solar and optional battery storage through the Home Solar Accelerator program. Independent advisors guide homeowners through the process — assessing your options and comparing quotes from vetted installers. Home Solar Accelerator is a free, non-profit concierge-style service delivered by The Atmospheric Fund (TAF). 

Prepare or Repair - How Climate-Proofing Infrastructure Pays Off

I recently attended a webinar by the Canadian Climate Institute called “Prepare or Repair - How Climate-Proofing Infrastructure Pays Off,” which offered great insights into the challenges facing public entities like the City of Hamilton as climate change impacts our infrastructure. The City of Hamilton owns assets (roads, bridges, water treatment, buildings, etc.) with an estimated replacement value of $39.4B, and a 10-year funding gap to maintain those assets of $5.2B. With such a large deficit to deal with, we must minimize additional taxpayer money required to keep our assets in good working order. 

The new report from the CCI tackles this topic head-on and assesses the financial impact that a wetter and hotter world will have on our assets, and importantly, what to do about it. The report examines the options of simply repairing our infrastructure, which will require more frequent maintenance and replacement, further burdening taxpayers, or adopting a proactive ‘prepare’ approach that is likely to substantially reduce long-term costs.

The report concludes that adaptation investments in public infrastructure will save taxpayers billions of dollars annually

The conclusion is clear that proactive investment in the short-term may be cost-neutral, but over the coming decades, ‘preparation’ investments will save Canadian taxpayers billions of dollars annually. For Hamilton’s tax levy in 2026, $13 million of spending equals a 1% increase in taxes. Hamilton’s potential cost-avoidance through preparation could save our City (and reduce the funding required by upper levels of government) by many multiples of $13 million, which means a more affordable city. Implementing the recommendations of this report – which will take cooperation and collaboration from all levels of government – would very likely have a substantial positive impact on affordability for Hamiltonians.  

You can read the report here. 

THANK YOU

Thanks as always to everyone who reaches out to engage with our office. I hope you enjoyed reading this month’s newsletter. Please share it with Ward 12 neighbours and friends. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] and subscribe to the Ward 12 newsletter at CraigCassar.ca. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky.